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Game, set, match!

Retro Gaming Comes to Indycube St. Mary Street

Gaming continues to the push the boundaries. VR headsets are becoming more affordable and console quality games are coming to mobile. It’s a far cry from the 1980s when home gaming went mainstream, a generation grew up playing on consoles like the Atari 2600 and Colecovision, or home computers like the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64.

"Thank you for rescuing me, but our Princess is in another castle!"

Classic titles like Pacman and Space Invaders might seem absurdly simplistic compared to today’s games set in vast virtual worlds, but they’re still a lot of fun. Not to mention fiendishly difficult. Watch a kid used to the training wheels of your average Xbox or Playstation title fail to beat the first level of Donkey Kong and see for yourself.

Graphics get better, concepts become more ambitious, but great games are still great games, no matter how old they are, kind of like a classic movie. Out in Japan, where they still have arcades, they aren’t so quick to consign old video games to history books. If it’s playable, gamers will keep on coming back, regardless of age. Throw in an element of nostalgia and competitive dad syndrome - “son I was awesome at Street Fighter back in the day”, and you have a winning mix, which is why old games are making a comeback.

Check out eBay, Gumtree and your local car boot and you’ll find plenty of vintage tech for sale: consoles, games and of course old school CRT televisions to ensure you get the full retro experience. Manufacturers have woken up to this old school resurgence - witness Nintendo’s NES and SNES minis - the bane of parents everywhere as they tried to track one down in time for Christmas. Now Sony are about to get in on the act with their Playstation 1 reissue.

"Do a barrel roll!"

Indycube member Richard Phelps has always been something of a games nerd. After a recent trip to Japan, where he got to hang out in retro gaming stores like Super Potato salivating over retro gaming treasures, he decided to get his collection down out of the loft with a view to making it available for people to play.

I dug it all out and started to look for a venue. I knew Mark Hooper already, we met up, and he was keen to help me find some underutilised space. Now everything’s stashed at Indycube St. Mary Street ready for people to play”.

"K-O!"

With the soft launch of his retro gaming nights in the bag - a big thumbs up from all those who turned up for a trip down memory lane - he’s turning his attention to putting on an evening just for Indycube members. Anyone keen to get their geek on is welcome to attend. The event runs 6-9pm on 12th October, Indycube 4th floor, 5-7 Market Chambers, St. Mary Street, Cardiff, and entrance is free. Just sign up at the Facebook event.